Graduate Field of Global Development

One of the grand challenges of the 21st century is how to secure enough food to feed growing world populations in ways that ensure access for all and are environmentally sustainable. Students interested in gaining practical knowledge and skills related to agriculture and food production systems, including agro-ecology, regenerative agriculture, and agro-forestry, will find a rich array of relevant courses and opportunities for field-based learning. We have a long history of training students in IARD and a vast alumni network. 

Global climate change has focused attention like never before on the need for careful stewardship of the world’s natural resources. Students interested in ecology, environmental sciences, and sustainability studies and in careers in international environmental management have access to a wide array of relevant courses at Cornell – the top-ranking Ivy League institution in national sustainability rankings. The Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability is an important extra-curricular resource for students; the Center hosts prominent speakers and offers additional opportunities for students to be involved in sustainability work.

As aid budgets have shrunk, the development sector has increasingly promoted social enterprise as a way for the world’s poor and middle classes to make a living, gain skills, create jobs, and substitute local products for imported goods and services. Our students, some of them entrepreneurs themselves, can learn practical skills related to starting and running social enterprises or measuring the impacts of these enterprises on families and communities. Students can also apply to participate in hands-on, field-based, student-led projects that contribute to small business development in emerging markets through the SMART Program.

We live, more than ever before, in a world on the move. As people are forced from their homes due to climate change, conflict, and lack of economic opportunities, migrants, refugees, and diasporic populations have emerged as groups with specific and urgent needs. Students interested in preparing for careers in the humanitarian sector or in crafting policy or implementing programs to deal with the needs of migrants, refugees, diasporic populations, and host communities may focus their coursework in this area. Outside formal coursework, The Cornell Farmworker Program provides volunteer and other opportunities for students to be engaged in related issues in upstate New York.

Non-profit and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are key actors in global development and poverty reduction projects. Students interested in gaining practical skills in leading these organizations may take courses to acquire the knowledge, skills, and strategic sensibilities needed to become effective leaders in the non-profit and NGO sectors.

The impacts of development programs and policies have differed based on gender as well as other identities. Development projects carry with them understandings of gender and shape gender relations in ways that need to be critically evaluated and addressed. Students interested in working across sectors to make development projects more inclusive and egalitarian can learn about the history of such efforts, as well as current frameworks for gender analysis. Additional opportunities for student engagement – in the form of seminars, travel grants, and resource databases – are available to students through the Advancing Women in Agriculture through Research and Education (AWARE) program.

Education, in its many forms, is a key component of development projects. Students interested in gaining expertise in agricultural, extension, or youth or adult education will find a robust set of course offerings from which to choose.  Outside the classroom, students have opportunities to learn from Cornell Cooperative Extension, a world-class extension service covering the state, and extension and outreach institutes in the Department of Global Development.

Demographic changes – from aging populations to youth bulges – provide opportunities as well as constraints on economic development. Students interested in understanding population-level influences on development and working to shape or analyze population policies and social or economic programs to respond to these changes will find a robust selection of relevant courses and deep faculty expertise at Cornell. Outside formal coursework, students may take advantage of the extensive programming of the Cornell Population Center.

Cornell faculty and students have a long history studying the economics of development in low-income countries and advising governments in the area of economic policy. The university-wide community of those interested in economic issues surrounding development is vast, providing students unparalleled opportunities for studying these issues.